2000 Volvo S80

IN JULY 2005, I NOTICED THE CAR SURGING, PARTICULARLY AT HIGHWAY SPEEDS. IT CUT OFF, GIVING A MESSAGE OF "REDUCED PERFORMANCE" BUT NO "CHECK ENGINE" MESSAGE. THE "REDUCED PERFORMANCE" MESSAGE IS NOT LISTED IN THE OWNER'S MANUAL. I WAS ABLE TO DRIVE THE CAR AT ABOUT 5 MPH TO A TURNOFF POINT. I CUT THE CAR OFF TO CONSULT THE OWNER'S MANUAL AND IT RESTARTED WITHOUT A PROBLEM. I ATTRIBUTED THE PROBLEM TO PERHAPS FAULTY GASOLINE. ON OCT. 9, THE CAR ABRUPTLY CUT OFF ON THE INTERSTATE, GIVING THE SAME WARNING MESSAGE BUT THIS TIME ALSO DISPLAYING A "CHECK ENGINE" LIGHT. FORTUNATELY I WAS ABLE TO SAFELY COAST ACROSS TWO LANES OF TRAFFIC TO THE EMERGENCY LANE. WHEN I TOOK THE CAR IN FOR DIAGNOSTICS (TO AN INDEPENDENT DEALER), HE SAID THAT THE THROTTLE BODY WAS BAD AND DIRECTED ME TO SEVERAL WEB SITES THAT DISCUSSED THE PROBLEM AND THE CLASS-ACTION LAWSUIT IN CALIFORNIA. ON OCT. 17, "JOHN" WITH VOLVO NORTH AMERICA'S CUSTOMER CARE HOTLINE SAID THAT THE PROBLEM WAS PROBABLY NOT COVERED UNDER MY EXTENDED WARRANTY BECAUSE OF THE CAR'S AGE. I POINTED OUT THAT IT HAS FEWER THAN 60,000 MILES. I ASKED HIM ABOUT A RECALL AND HE TOLD ME ABOUT THE PENDING INVESTIGATION BY THE NHTSA. I ALSO ASKED HIM FOR NHTSA'S TELEPHONE NUMBER, WHICH HE GAVE ME. I HAVE NOT TAKEN THE CAR TO MY LOCAL DEALER YET. I AM APPALLED THAT A COMPANY THAT PRIDES ITSELF ON SAFETY WOULD ALLOW PEOPLE TO DRIVE THEIR VEHICLES KNOWING THAT THE CARS MIGHT CUT OFF AT ANY TIME. *JB

THE MAJOR PROBLEM WITH VOLVO'S COMPUTERIZED THROTTLE (ETM, S80 1999-2001, E.G.) IS TO DESCRIBE THE SYMPTOMS. IT'S BLURRY LIKE A STOMACH DISORDER IF YOU DON'T FIND AN EXACT DESCRIPTION. IN MY CASE IT'S LIKE THE ENGINE LOOSES POWER AND YOU CAN'T COMPENSATE FAST ENOUGH BY GIVING MORE THROTTLE. IT'S IMPOSSIBLE TO MEET CLUTCH AND THROTTLE NO MATTER WHAT. NOW, IF YOU TAKE IT REALLY SLOWLY SO THE COMPUTER MANAGES TO REACT, IT'S NO PROBLEM BUT IF YOU ARE THE SLIGHTEST TO HASTY .... RESULTS: ENGINE STOPS, SOMETIMES ON CRITICAL SPOTS AND CHANGING OF GEAR LIKE A NEW DRIVER. I'VE BEEN ON A VOLVO GARAGE TO DISCUSS THE MATTER AND I'VE BEEN TREATED LIKE AN IDIOT. I KNOW I'M RIGHT AND THEY KNOW THEY'RE WRONG. IT'S TIME TO PUT PRESSURE ON VOLVO AND MAKE THEM CORRECT THEIR MISTAKE. IF NOT, IN THE FUTURE, CHOOSE ANOTHER CAR! I'M SAYING THIS ALTHOUGH I'M SWEDISH!*JB

2000 S80 VOLVO T6, HAS STALLED IN TRAFFIC NINE TIMES, INCLUDING A SUDDEN LOSS OF SPEED AND POWER STEERING WHILE DRIVING IN HIGHWAY TRAFFIC WITHOUT WARNING. I HAVE HAD CAR TOWED TO OUR DEALER SEVERAL TIMES, THEY KEEP IT FOR A WEEK, TRYING TO SEE IF THE CAR WILL STALL FOR THEM. WE ARE FRUSTRATED WITH THE DEALER, WILL IT TAKE A DEATH BEFORE THERE IS ANY ACTION. CAN YOU PLEASE HELP US? *NM

I OWN A VOLVO S80 AND HAVE SEEN SOME PERFORMANCE PROBLEMS SIMILAR TO THOSE DESCRIBED BY HTTP://VEXEDVOLVO.ORG/. STALLING ON A HIGHWAY IS ONE OF THE BIGGEST PROBLEMS ALTHOUGH MY STALLS USUALLY DON''T CAUSE THE CAR TO TOTALLY STOP. I RECENTLY CONTACTED VOLVO SINCE I FEEL THAT THIS TYPE OF SITUATION IS UNSAFE. THEY NEVER RESPONDED TO MY REQUEST, WHICH WAS FOR A REPLACEMENT PART, THAT I WOULD PAY FOR, THAT WOULDN'T FAIL OVER TIME. I HAVE SENT THEM TWO EMAILS SO FAR WITH NO RESULTS. I AM A 9-YEAR VOLVO OWNER AND BECAUSE OF THE PROBLEMS THEY HAVE IGNORED I FEE L VOLVO HAS GIVEN UP ON TRYING TO MAKE THEIR CARS SAFE AND RELIABLE. IF I CAN HELP WITH YOUR INVESTIGATION PLEASE LET ME KNOW. THE CAR HAS 88000 MILES ON IT. *NM

SURGING ENGINE RPM NOTED ON NUMEROUS OCCASIONS WHILE STOPPED. SEEMS TO BE WHEN USING AIR CONDITIONER OUR SAFETY CONCERN IS THE POSSIBILITY OF THE ENGINE OVERPOWERING THE BRAKES. DEALER SAYS IT IS THE ELECTRONIC THROTTLE MODULE AND NOTED IT IS AN ON-GOING PROBLEM WITH THIS MODEL CAR AS WELL AS A SAFETY AND RELIABILITY CONCERN. *NM

ON THREE OCCASIONS (BETWEEN JAN. 2005 AND AUG. 2005), WHILE DRIVING MY 2000 VOLVO S80 IT HAS CUT OFF ON ME. THE FIRST TIME I WAS PULLING INTO A PARKING SPOT AT A SHOPPING CENTER. WHILE GIVING THE CAR GAS AND PULLING INTO THE PARKING SPOT THE CAR SHUT OFF ON ME. THE SECOND TIME I HAD COASTED PROBABLY 20 FEET AND WAS GOING TO PULL INTO A DRIVEWAY AND WHEN I GAVE THE CAR GAS IT SHUT DOWN ON ME. THE THIRD TIME I WAS STUCK IN TRAFFIC AND I WAS GIVING IT GAS TO MOVE UP A LITTLE AND THE CAR CUT OFF. I AM REPORTING THIS BECAUSE I SAW AN ARTICLE RELATED TO THESE OCCURRENCES IN THE GREENSBORO NEWS & RECORD. *JB

WHILE TRAVELING AT INTERSTATE HIGHWAY SPEED (65-75 MPH), THE ENGINE BEGAN TO SURGE VIOLENTLY, FOR NO APPARENT REASON. WITHIN SECONDS, THE WARNING INDICATOR ILLUMINATED AND THE MESSAGE CENTER DISPLAYED, "STOP SAFELY AND RESTART ENGINE." AFTER PULLING ONTO THE SHOULDER, THE ENGINE RPM FLUCTUATED FROM 400-1000 RPM QUICKLY. SIMILAR OR MORE SEVERE EVENTS OCCURRED THREE MORE TIMES THAT DAY. FORTUNATELY, NO ACCIDENT OCCURRED AS A RESULT OF STOPPING ON THE SHOULDER.*JB